Went to Rockbridge State Nature Preserve today to photograph the falls for Exploring Ohio photo magazine. Rockbridge only runs after a good rain and we have been hit pretty good here lately. I must say that Rockbridge is quite a hike. Not for the faint of heart, bad knees or hips, nor heart issues, plus if you don’t like heights then you don’t want to walk the rockbridge it’s self. No guard rails, just straight down. Looking forward to spring and a green walk. So the story goes like this… when in your head you keep repeating ‘this is a bad idea’ over and over you would think it’s a bad idea. But then as a photographer logic sometimes, a lot of the time, goes out the window. ‘The’ place to get the photo was down a very steep bank covered in leaves after a lot of rain. Would be a hard climb down and very difficult back up given the extra weight of gear and wet leaves covering the ground, but then…
Once down the realization for getting back up sinks in, not good. Did I mention I’m not 20 something anymore, did my mind remind my body of that??? NO… but then you are a photographer and can do anything. Like taking a swim in the creek! Fortunately I had set the camera’s up on the rocks in a safe place and moved the phones to the camera vest before slipping on the wet rocks and doing a face plant in the creek. Did you know that the rather light Nike hiking boots get very heavy with filled with water.
So the moral of the story is don’t think like a photographer sometimes, be reasonable, think like a normal human being. But then I’m an old school shooter, photojournalist. In the end I got the picture.

– 30 –

The scenery to and from the falls is quite nice. Go when it’s a bit dryer though. :-]

Hey for one day only! Back in Wilmington and a one day shoot – Pooch on the Porch – is on again. Pooch ‘petraits’ start at 9am at the Bellamy Mansion. If you are interested call 910.251.3700 to book a time slot for your ‘petrait’.

Doing a good portrait takes a bit of time. You want your subject to be relaxed, you want to get to the time when you capture the essence of the person you are working with. The session should be light with a range of emotions that will give you a nice selection to present to your client. If all goes well the last part of the session will have the image you are looking for. Sometimes it is the last image. Sometimes the importance of the subject and their limited time allow only a few moments and very few frames to choose from. This is where skill, preparedness and luck come in handy.

Sometimes you have a difficult subject and not much of anything you do will change the who you are working with. Patient, perseverance and finding a subject they like to talk about are the winners.

Then there is working with a photographer. There is nothing to prepare for when trying to do a portrait of a photographer. They have been there, done that and you are at their mercy. Plan to shoot as quickly as possible and be prepared for most everything. The fav thing to do is a slight rocking motion to make focus impossible.

Then again, the first and last image could be great and well, everything in between is priceless. Call MasterCard.

I’m working on a video project interview photojournalist around the US regarding the changing landscape of photojournalism. Did a recent interview with Randy Dieter and Michael Keating in Covington, KY. Interviews with them were great and the portraits, well you be the judge… ;-]